The most recent gathering of youth participating in Yakanal brought them to Laguna Pueblo and Chaco to participate in a Media Training program that allowed the youth to edit their own footage taken during prior cultural exchange gatherings towards the development of a short video on the importance of water from cultural and preservation perspectives.
“Every time I’ve gone out there, another handful of drilling sites appear somewhere in the general vicinity,” said Steve Speth, longtime park astronomer and president of Friends of Chaco. “It’s really been kind of astounding.”
On summer solstice, Saturday, June 20th the Friends of Chaco sponsored the Kitzit Dancers from Laguna Pueblo who danced at Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
On summer solstice, Saturday, June 20th the Friends of Chaco will be sponsoring the Kitzit Dancers from Laguna Pueblo at Chaco Culture National Historical Park. There will be two sets of dances at 9:30 and 11:30 am
It’s the archaeological landscape beyond New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon that is most threatened.
The primary threat to Chaco Canyon in (Theodore) Roosevelt’s time was looting of archaeologically and culturally precious sites, said Horning. “Today the threat is oil and gas development and fracking in particular.”
The National Park Service staff is currently doing the planning work for the new museum display at the Chaco Culture Historical Park Visitor Center. This is where the Friends of Chaco, and you, can help. In a cooperative venture between the Friends of Chaco and the National Parks Foundation, funds are being raised specifically dedicated to the restoration of artifacts for display at the visitor center.
On Camping at Chaco Culture National Historical Park and Aztec Ruins National Monument provided an immersive experience to the 49 participants with the opportunity to learn about Ancestral Pueblo culture.August 14-22, Maya and Pueblo youth and elders met for a cultural exchange in New Mexico and Colorado for the Third Pueblo-Maya Cultural Exchange.
Oil and gas extraction around the area of Chaco Culture National Historical Park is being proposed by The Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The Friends of Chaco has expressed its concerns to the Bureau of Land Management, and we encourage you to do the same. The BLM is soliciting feedback by COB on Wednesday, May 28, 2014, but you should feel free to express your views at any time.
During our April Friends of Chaco Board meeting, park Superintendent Larry Turk and his staff presented us with a list of projects that would benefit from the support of the Friends. After deliberation, we decided to fund six exciting projects. We will support: Maya-Pueblo Youth Cultural Exchange: This August, a group of approximately 45 youth and elders from the Pueblos in New Mexico and Maya towns in Mexico and Guatemala will visit Chaco and two other ancestral sites–Aztec Ruins National Monument and Mesa Verde National Park–as well as the contemporary Pueblos of Laguna, Zia, and Acoma. These special places will offer…
It goes without saying that Chaco Culture National Historical Park is one of Americas’ true treasures. Chaco connects us to our own shared history, preserves not just incredible architectural wonders, but also a peoples memory, a culture of triumph in a harsh environment. Visitors to Chaco are humbled, awed and spiritually moved.